WOMAN'S DUTY1 MRS. PERCY V. PENNYBACKER There was never greater need for women to be sane than at this hour. There is no excuse for excitement or for hysteria. If our men are to give the best that is in them, we must keep the atmosphere of our homes sweet and serene. Remember, no sacrifice is a great sacrifice unless it is made cheerfully. Let there be no weeping, no complaining, no lamentation, when our beloved ones answer the call to duty. This is also a time for moral sanity and for lofty ideals. I wish I could burn into the heart of every young woman the remark that a distinguished military man made a few days ago: "The influence of young women on soldiers is terrifying in its strength; it is not what a woman says, it is not what a woman does, it is what she really is that counts. Men sense inmost beliefs. Men raise or lower their ideals as she dictates." This is an awful responsibility, young women, but it is yours; you cannot escape it. In these days of distress, every woman should pass her soul in review before herself and ask: "What are my standards? Do I really believe that the Commandments were given for men as well as for women? Do I realize that I am in part 'my brother's keeper'? In dress, in speech, in manner, in thought, are the young women of America doing their full duty to help our boys in the ranks to retain the loftiest ideals of womanhood, to live clean lives, to take as much pride in moral as in physical victory? It is the duty of every woman in this 1 From a speech delivered July 6, 1917. WOMAN'S DUTY 185 country to help, because the happiness of all is at stake!the salvation of the next generation is in peril. It is the duty of women-the special duty-to see that no hate enters into our hearts. If we banish this monster, our husbands, sons and lovers will find it easier to shut their souls to hate. President Wilson has well said, "We are not making war on the German people." This is a holy war, and in such a struggle there is no place for hatred. No one who has lived in Germany, as some of us have, and has known the lovely home life, can hate the German people. No one who has been ill in Germany, as some of us have, and has received generous kindness and consideration, can hate the German people. No one who has studied history aright and has learned the contributions made to the happiness of the world by the men and women of Germany, can hate the German people. As I sit in church on Sunday and see the Cross borne down the aisle, my heart is thrilled when I behold that now, side by side with the Cross, comes the Flag. At the altar they stand like twin sentinels guarding the Holy of Holies. I love to think of our America today as a gracious, beautiful matron. In her hour of peril, before the altar she calls her stalwart sons, she calls her fair young daughters, and says: "My children, behold this Flag, 'the Stars and Stripes'; it has been baptized in blood and sacrifice; it stands for liberty and love; it has never stood for oppression, for tyranny, for conquest. You were born beneath it; it has cherished you; I give it now into your hands. Guard it, die for it, but forget not that with this Flag I give you another-the Flag of Christ-the Flag that has said for two thousand years, and says today, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.' THE BRAVE AT HOME THOMAS BUCHANAN READ I The maid who binds her warrior's sash With smile that well her pain dissembles, The while beneath her drooping lash One starry tear-drop hangs and trembles, Though Heaven alone records the tear, And Fame shall never know her story, Her heart has shed a drop as dear As e're bedewed the field of glory! II The wife who girds her husband's sword, What though her heart be rent asunder, Doomed nightly in her dreams to hear The bolts of death around him rattle, Hath shed as sacred blood as e're Was poured upon the field of battle! III The mother who conceals her grief While to her breast her son she presses, Then breathes a few brave words and brief, Kissing the patriot brow she blesses, With no one but her secret God To know the pain that weighs upon her, Sheds holy blood as e're the sod Received on Freedom's field of honor! MOTHERING TO WOMAN LAWRENCE BINYON Your hearts are lifted up, your hearts For you too to battle go, Not with the marching drums and cheers, And through the boundless night of fears. And not a shot comes blind with death And entered first a woman's breast. 187 MOTHERING LIEUTENANT H. BUCHANAN RYLEY "He who goes a-mothering finds violets in the lane."-Old Proverb. "Oh, whirl of leaves, Oh, sobbing breeze, About the gates of spring, When the west wind brings the exiles home From weary wandering; And down the rut-worn way they haste God, but their feet are fain! And he who goes a-mothering "Dear Lord, throw open wide Thy doors For souls to enter in! The bitter exile over-past The home-time shall begin! Loved hands and lips draw nigh again "Oh, the violets round the Tree of Life, Sweet violets round the brim Of ever-welling water-floods Where day grows never dim; Where tears are dried, and dead hopes raised, And so for you and me Our hearts shall go a-mothering For all eternity!" (This poem, written by Lieutenant Ryley, was recently sent to The Living Church as his last production, with the words: "I have lost two sons in this hellish war and expect to fall myself. But always my heart is in U. S. A., though my duty is on the firing line." killed near Jerusalem, December 15, 1917.) TO A MOTHER EDEN PHILLPOTTS Robbed mother of the stricken Motherland- I, that am man, disquiet and silent stand He was It is your sacred self that they demand, |